Thru the hood gas filler

I'm considering a thru the hood gas filler on my Speedster. The typical Lemans "cobra" type seems to be to tall to look right. I've seen the ones on the Spyders sold by Special Addition, and think these might look just right.

Can anyone offer any details about how the exterior filler assembly is mounted and how it mates to the tank filler neck?

Does the exterior assembly simply provide access to a standard filler cap? If so, what is the diameter of the access hole when the assembly is open?

What would the cost be for one of these?

Can someone provide a close-up picture of one?

Brian,

Just sent this description to Cory a few days ago:

I purchased an original-type 356 gas cap and removed the innards. Then took the innards from a VW Beetle cap and welded them inside the 356 cap. See photo 2 and 3.

Next I found a 4" RV tailpipe (thick walled), cut off the filler neck from a VW gas tank, and welded the filler neck inside the top of the tailpipe.

I purchased a 1/8" thick piece of steel plate at Home Depot, made the upright handle, drilled 5 holes in it and welded it to the top of the 356 cap.

Purchased an aluminum camping kit from an outdoor store and made the pan (rain tray) from one of the dish to catch any water that might leak in around the filler. Purchased a drain fitting, drilled a hole in the pan for the fitting and the 4" filler tube. A rubber hose is attached to the drain so water will leave the car where you want it to, not into your trunk.

Next eagle-eye where the hole would go in the gas tank and the hood. This is tricky because if you pick the wrong location you will have a lot of extra work to patch the hole or the cap will not be at the same angle as the hood. Cut a hole in the hood so you know where the filler tube will enter the gas tank. Then push the tube through the hood and (somehow) mark the gas tank. Note: I used a new gas tank rather than risk an explosion. You might have to do some trial tacks to get the right location/angle. Finish- weld the tank and tube when you're happy with everything.

When the tube is all finish-welded in place in the tank and through the hood I made three small L-brackets that are welded to the side of the tube and under the aluminum pan so it fits close to the underside of the hood but has a little room for a spongy rubber gasket on top so the hood is sealed. Drill holes in the L-brackets and the pan and screw the pan in place.

The hood is hollow so I cut exact pieces of wood, epoxyed them in pace to fill the gaps and used filler to get the hole very close to the side of the filler tube and able to clear the cap when it is installed.

You'll also need to rig a vent of some kind with a hose so the gas flows freely and the fumes emit out of the car instead of inside.

Tips:
1. Drill a few holes in the filler tube so they are near the very top of the tube and inside of the tank. My tube sits too close to the bottom of the tank without any holes so when I fill with gas the air pressure around the tube inside the tank won

Can you post those pics?

Contact Carey Hines at special edition. He will sell you a complete spyder 15 gal tank, with the right neck & cap. That's what he does for his thru the hood fills on speedsters. Take a look at the merlot car on their website. I think all you will have to fab is the hole in the hood.

Check out this pic, old school racing and what I think your looking for.

D

Darren...I'm going to regret asking this question but why do they put the tape looking stuff over the lights?? or at least it looks like tape to me. ~Esther

If the headlamp lenses break, they're held together and in place by the tape. Keeps them on the car, not all over the track.

I believe that tape on front mounted lights was an SCCA rule at some point. Then it became a "racer thing", sort of a badge of honor if you will.

Brian,

Here is the finished product. Primered edge around the opening is the reason you might not want to do this on a painted car.

Another option is a fliptop filler cap that some people install.

Hope to see you at Carlisle.

Ya the tape is just to keep road debris to a min.

Bruce, Tom... Thanks for your responses. Look forward to seeing you at Carlisle.

While I have a Spyder I was able to mount the filler in the opening originally used for the fuel level sensor. I also had some raw edges I didn't care for, so this was my solution....

Brian, sorry for a minor but very much related hijack.
I put a call in last week to Rod Emory, and he called back with some Carrera GT tech advice for thru-hood fillers with the Emory-style way to do them. It's available on the PM, if you want it.
Jim, what you did with the edge trim is almost exactly what I'm doing. I'll be taking photos as I go (dumbfounded, right?).
Bruce, thanks for the step-by-step; it will help immensely.
The only thing you might have been left out is how to gauge the opening and how to locate the hole, but I think I have that licked.
I'll be tracing the line of the filler cap upside-down onto the hood after I mark and drill a central pilot hole from below, then key-holing it out.
I went with a flip-top filler with a five-inch diameter, keyed lock and 50s-era fluted chrome on the cap itself. The filler neck has a clapper-valve built into the bottom, bears a 2.5" OD and will seat nicely into the steel funnel I've made for the top of the tank.

Cory,
If you don't mind send me that Emory info. Thanks.
PM to tomdewalt at mac.com

VW takes our tanks and punches, essentially, 2 sender holes in it. One in the center, for our spyder gas filler neck, and one off to the side for the sender.

For speedsters, I have to shim the filler up just slightly, or it falls below the hole.

The tank is a 10 gallon replacement tank by the way...

Jim,

Looks good. I really like the trim around the opening. Dresses it up a bit.

You'll have some mail this morning, Tom.
For general knowledge, here's what I'd consider the ideal off-the-shelf set-up. With the exception of the four-hole finned cap, I'm trying for this effect with my new pieces (The whole page is linked to individual photos. The filler neck and rain tray are the ones I wanted to link to.):

http://www.gtwerk.com/pictures.html

Here's the one I bought:

Dude,

That's a Jag XJ6 filler cap and neck. The cars came with two, one on top of each rear fender, for the twin tanks in each fender well. Very classy, usually high priced item.

Looks to be in SWEET condition, what did it cost you?

Sixty bucks, TC. You sent me in the Triumph/Jaguar direction, so I guess I owe you one ...

BT - Here are a few more photos.

Cory - I'm curious, please send me the Emory info.

Jim - I like the trim, how did you make it?

Thanks Bruce,
I have the jag cap like Cory($15 at you-pic-apart). Can I get a look at how you did the drain tray?

I want to make one like yours but I needed something that will lock.

Guys, the trim I made out of .050" stock. I traced the opening in the hood on a piece of cardboard. I then added .750" all around to the drawing and transfered it to the aluminum and cut it out. The rivets include 6 functional rivets and the rest are for appearance. The whole thing took only a couple of hours to make.....the fit is a bit too tight on the inside so opening the filler requires a bit of finesse. But, I can live with it and prefer the close fit for appearances at least...

Bruce, you have mail.

Late post, but...

For similar, "how do I figure out where to cut?"

To trim the engine lid tray to clear some custom air cleaners, I just placed some saran wrap over each air cleaner, stole my daughters Play-dough, and put a ball of it on each cleaner and slowly closed the lid. When I lifted the lid, the Play-dough was flatter and stuck to the lid, and I could tell where to trim and how thick.

Maybe something like that will help locate where to drill a pilot hole from the bottom for a gas filler. If you can't steal any Play-dough, a wadded up ball of duct tape, wrapped sticky side out might do the trick.

Right on Robert! I used my grandsons play dough to locate and drill my inner panels. First to clear the gas cap on my LARGE gas tank, and again to clear the right side air cleaner, when I added velocity stacks and had to raise the air cleaner a few inches. Works great.

Man, I learn something new EVERYTIME I visit this site. Thanks for those clearance tech tips!

bt,

Attached is a photo of the rain tray, sorry for the delay. Note the 3/8" hose that drains the rain tray though the bottom of the trunk area and the rubber gasket on the underside of the hood. Obviously it's important that the tray fits properly against the rubber seal or the tray will bend. I've driven through major downpours and have had no leaks.

I incorrectly mentioned above that I used one of the sender screw holes to create a vent for the tank. After re-looking at it I realized I drilled a hole in the sender and attached the vent there. The hose you see never allowed the tank to fill fast enough so last weekend I drilled a larger hole and replaced the tiny hose with a 3/8" rubber hose like the one used on the drain - much better! If I had this to do over the vent would have been inserted somewhere in the top of the tank rather than the sender.

I hope this helps.
ECB

ECB - That's a pretty cool set-up! Nice job on the fabrication.

Thanks to all for the responses. I've been away for a while and am just catching up. Looking forward to Carlisle, and meeting everyone possible on Saturday afternoon and at dinner that night.